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Upgrading the System BIOS

When you upgrade an existing system without replacing the
motherboard, the BIOS version it uses can be a critical issue. Some
system features—notably support for large hard disks,
high-speed transfer modes, and AGP—are BIOS-dependent, so an
in-place upgrade often requires a
BIOS
upgrade as well. Fortunately, recent systems use a
flash BIOS, which can be upgraded simply
by downloading a later version of the BIOS to replace the existing
BIOS.

Warning

Be extraordinarily careful when upgrading a flash BIOS. Before you
proceed, make absolutely sure that the BIOS
upgrade patch you are about to apply is the
exact one required for the current BIOS. If you
apply the wrong patch, you may render your system unbootable from the
floppy drive, which makes it difficult or impossible to recover by
reapplying the proper patch.

Upgrading a flash BIOS requires
two files. The first is the upgraded BIOS itself in binary form. The
second is the “flasher” program
provided by the BIOS manufacturer, e.g.,
awdflash.exe. The exact steps you follow to
upgrade a flash BIOS vary slightly according to the BIOS manufacturer
and the version of the flasher program you are using, but the
following steps are typical:

Before proceeding, record all current BIOS settings, either using pencil and paper or a utility program that writes BIOS settings to a disk file. If you have a UPS, connect the system to it for the duration of the BIOS update. Losing power during a BIOS update can result in ...

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